Do You Wish To Unsubscribe?

Last week, I kicked off a special series focused on social media in advocacy. I also announced that I was going to ask some other contributors to add their voices to the discussion. Today, a good friend and trusted colleague is trying his hand at blogging with a first-ever post focused on the first of our two goals in this series:

1. Maintaining your own sanity as an advocate in the political social media realm.
2. Recognizing social media as a mere tool, and tips on how to leverage it effectively in your broader advocacy plans.

I hope you’ll take a moment and leave a comment for today’s author, Abe Jacob. Trust me when I say putting yourself out there like this is a big step. So, let’s help him get started, eh?

So, without further ado, I present Abe and his thoughts on successfully building a filter for all that confronts us online these days.

-LC

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Do you wish to unsubscribe? That all too familiar question we are asked before we end our “viewing pleasure” to online ads, profiles, and those emails we never signed up for to begin with. We are given that opportunity to decide if we want to dismiss it, give it one more chance, or simply take a break from it.

For those of us in government relations, it can literally be part of our job to keep a pulse on individuals, issues, groups, and clients to capitalize on solid relationship building. Is there a way for those that making a living from networking to find solace within their social media use without being weighed down by content overload? Unsubscribing may be the ideal technique we can start using for the relationships we face both on professional and personal levels.

With the growth of social media becoming interwoven in our daily lives as a news source, beacon of macro messaging, and the occasional location to check-up on someone just to be nosey, the public relations and advocacy industry has been forced to evolve with the times.

Over time, I’ve realized that face to face meetings are no longer essential to gain a snapshot understanding the brand of a client, product, political candidate, or public official. While it is helpful for a quick briefing or company research, it also creates a portal to the minutiae loved ones’ personal lives.

It’s overwhelming – that tidal wave of overnight doctors, philosophers, and policy experts that undoubtedly never fail to miss an opportunity to share with the world their opinion, an unreliable news article, humble brags, and the notorious asking for support to draw attention their way without ever saying what the problem is. After a while, you feel that mental heaviness draining your energy and while you can’t completely sign off social media, if you’re like me, you need a break.

There aren’t many of us out there who don’t have a notorious ornery relative. The ones we brace ourselves for prior to reading their consistent takes on politics, religion, weather, traffic, and a whole host of experiences happening daily that requires the time, consideration, and translation of their social media followers.

For me, I jokingly say that I’m cursed by being blanketed with “Catholic Guilt” when I’ve wronged someone that is important to me. Many of you know the guilt I’m referring to. The one that hits you in the pit of your stomach and you don’t ever find refuge unless you make it right.

I felt that when I experienced a relative continuing to send me direct messages of false political “news” stories for long periods of time. With every fiber of my being, I explained that I try to avoid the salacious news stories that accompany the presidential campaign, but they kept forwarding me articles. Finally, I muted their ability to send me messages via the social media app. It wasn’t a great feeling and the anxiety that I anticipated surely arrived right on time. I knew the risk associated with them being offended, but the bottom line was that they wanted to be heard, yet they clearly chose not to hear me.

That’s when it was time to unsubscribe! Since then, I’ve only felt relief from that decision. The anxiety brought on by the build up of the decision was the real hurdle, not the action itself and I take solace in knowing that.

I think for some, it is harder to unsubscribe from friends than our own family members. Obviously, that isn’t the case for everyone, but there is a large population of us that treasure the  friends we refer to as our “chosen family”.  The ones that have been in our lives for literally decades and helped create enough memories to fill miles of bookshelves.

Thanks to social media, friends can stay updated from hours, miles, and sometimes countries away from one another. Unfortunately, those updates sometimes carry an amount of emotional and mental heaviness that clouds the reasons you two became friends. Considering I had seven members of my wedding party, joint best men, and three bachelor parties, clearly, I have never met a stranger. However, as I use social media to check for posts related to my industry, I’ve found myself getting caught up in the daily troubles that accompany people I genuinely care about as friends.

I’ve witnessed a friend evolve from being a union democrat to an outspoken republican. While that’s nothing new in this country and everyone is entitled to vote how they wish, it has left me wondering if that’s all that has changed about them. It is not for me to cast judgement upon their beliefs, but it’s when others forget the core meaning of friendship as it relates to interacting with one another on social media.

While it remains important to cherish every moment that’s made us the truest of friends, life has pointed us in different directions. Since I first started working in state government, I’ve slowly but surely backed away from forcing my political beliefs down the proverbial throats of some of my dearest friends through social media. If we really are friends, they know if I’ve evolved or remain firm on a certain subject or candidate. However, it’s the ones who automatically assume I’m still the “wet behind ears” novice at the statehouse that loop me into a maze of political banter with no end in sight.

Rather than immersing oneself in layers of guilt, we all should take some time to realize if a relationship like that needs to continue, needs a pause, or concludes with respect, honor, and reverence for the time you shared as friends.

All of those examples can be helped by allowing unsubscribing be that shelter from the storm. Unsubscribe does not mean people are cut out permanently, but rather gives our hearts, minds, and souls an opportunity to decipher how we wish to live our lives. The difficult part is maneuvering around the mental drain from individuals or social media activity while remaining top notch in task of building and nurturing relationships.  A couple ways to accomplish unsubscribing in a respectful manner would be the following:

1. Use the filtering options your social media app(s) provide so that you’re able to focus on the content relevant to your job/client, without the heavy distraction from those who chose to vent their negativity to the world. You don’t necessarily have to delete someone. Using an “unfollow” option provides a very similar result without stirring the pot with family or friends.
2. If a certain public official is incredibly important to a client but is heavy on posting about topics that makes you roll your eyes or is clearly headline grabbing, some social media allow you to “snooze” their posts for 30 days or so. Utilize that so you’re still connected without getting caught up in a policy topic that doesn’t benefit you or your client.
3. Create a profile that is solely dedicated to your professional networking. Friends and family would more likely understand the specific content you are connecting with if they realize it is what helps you bring home the bacon. Or veggie burger if that’s your flavor of the week.

Over time, I have realized that we all have it within ourselves to unsubscribe from the noise, pressure, and unnecessary burdens that we impose on ourselves through life lessons, traditions, or simply guilt. There’s no time to waste when our careers can be taken to the next level and yet, we are drained emotionally by outside distractions.

If unsubscribing opens the gate towards success, do it. Just like that online shopping app, we have the option to resubscribe when we believe we have the mindset and words to utilize that relationship as it was intended. While we should live our lives to support more than just ourselves, our relationships aren’t truly genuine if we can’t focus on what’s most important.

Investing in others is a big part of personal development, but so is knowing when to take time for yourself. Do you wish to unsubscribe? That’s for you to decide!